to add an anemone, or not to add an anenome?

[ahullsb]

Who thinks they are a must and who thinks they are more trouble than they are worth? I have a nice empty corner in my tank right now and I have pulled all of my fish out because of signs of ich. So it would have time to do some moving and get acclimated before any fish started bothering it. I'm trying to get more experienced opinions about whether the benefits outweigh the potential costs.

[davocean]

Dude, you keep posting this question.
If you're having trouble keeping fish, you're definitely going to have trouble keeping a nem.
Nems are more sensitive than most fish.
You need a well established tank for them.

[fambrough]

What kind of anemone? Is this going into the 55 in your sig.? Also, what corals do you have?

It is going to move where it wants. I would not be concerned with fish bothering an anemone. I would worry about the anomone stinging the sessile invertabrates. I recently set up a second tank to *remove* GBTAs (two of them) out of my predominately coral tank. They were stinging my corals. Many people have mixed corals and anemones with fine luck. I think in the captive, tank enviroment it makes more sense to separate them as we do with coral types (due to aggression and preferences for nutirent levels in the water).

If you want and anemone, get one. Just remember to prove sufficient lightling and feed it silversides every once in a while.

Good luck,
Ben

[Craig Lambert]

What happened to the first one you added?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=958851

[ahullsb]

First of all daveocean I keep posting this quesiton because I want to hear people's opinions. The more the merrier...even yours. Secondly I haven't had a problem keeping any fish. Every one I have bought is doing as well as the day I purchased it. The tank has been setup for over a year and went through cycle when I bought and moved it in September. The anemone that came with the established tank was doomed from the start. It was unhealthy, bleached, and couldn't handle the move. I didn't have much of a choice and did the best I could for it. Once I switched to mh's it was over for it.

[ahullsb]

Thanks fambrough

[Richard parry]

Guys, he just wants some advice. Don't be so patronising by bringing up his previous posts. Fambrough gave some good advice but some people on here wander around with clipboards acting as if they own the hobby. Dont bring up previous threads and throw them in people's faces. ahullsb, you are just enjoying your hobby, you are not a bad or stupid person even if people like this make you feel that way.

[ahullsb]

thank you richard. I posted this hoping to hear either success stories or reasons why it's not worth it. I hear of anem's walking around killing peoples corals and I just wasn't sure how common that was. I am enjoying the hobby and place my trust with people like Bertoni etc. rather than my lfs. I wish you were a little closer so I could get some guitar lessons too!

[Richard parry]

No probs ahullsb! On the guitar side of things, i like to practice scales while watching the tank. If you distract your mind and sometimes dont look while you practice it helps when you wanna throw shapes on stage.

[Craig Lambert]

I only asked the question to see if there was something causing a problem (lighting water quality etc) making him unable to keep one.

If you do decide to get one, I would go for a RBTA. They are less demanding than many of the other choices. Make sure you get a healthy one. It should grab food without hesitation when it's offered. Just be prepared to move some corals until it finds the right location which it will determine by both lighting and flow.

[supervdl]

Your first anemone should be a RBTA or a normal BTA, they are the easiest to keep. All is relative - you need good light, good stable water quality and good flow. Feed it regularly to keep it in the spot where you want it to be. I had somebody attending to my tank during vacation time and my RBTA started moving around. That's the time when you start sweating since they can sting anything or disappear in the rockwork for a long time and then resurface at the other side of the tank. RBTAs are more expensive.

[ahullsb]

THanks guys. Craig I didn't mean you and I don't think anyone else did either. Thanks for the advice. I just found out my LFS is getting rbta's next Friday. They claim they are going to be very large. Is 100 bucks reasonable if they really are a good size?

[ahullsb]

Richard do you play in England? Record anything? I'd love to hear it. Guitar is another hobby of mine I've enjoyed for 13 years. I should be a whole lot better for that amount of time!